Twenty-Five

2092011

I turned 25 a little over a week ago. Every year I think my birthday is going to bring some monumental change, but it never does. This year, after being unemployed for four LONG months, I assumed that a job offer would come out of nowhere on my birthday. Hey, a girl’s allowed to dream, right? After all, the East Coast had an earthquake on my birthday. Clearly, that’s a sign that the world is shifting under my feet and great things are just around the corner, right? Maybe, but apparently that corner may still be a couple blocks away.

I’ve always been a dreamer with a ridiculous amount of faith and confidence in myself, and fortunately my family must feel the same way about me. In May of my junior year of high school I decided that I wanted to work in NASCAR. I promptly changed all my college applications to major in marketing and off I went. In what I still classify as my craziest idea ever, I moved to Milwaukee, Wis., sight unseen for a summer internship. From there it was off to Watkins Glen, N.Y., for two summers, and finally to Charlotte, N.C., post-college graduation. I waited six months until I finally found my “dream job” only to realize that not all dreams have happy endings, and was laid off after 13 months with the organization. Unfortunately, you’ll have that in a rough economy.

Since then, I’ve realized just how important it is to surround yourself with a good support system. One of my family’s friends approached me last month to tell me that I should move back to my parents’ house and date my best friend from high school. She apparently realized that I was irritated, but still decided to repeat the idea to my sister today. I don’t get people like that. More than anything, it makes me really happy that I don’t have many people like that in my life. Most people realize that when I set goals, that’s my goal–go big or go home. That being said, maybe it has been four LONG months already since I got laid off, but I am not giving up. Not even close.

In fact, despite the struggle, it just leaves me hungrier than ever to achieve my goals and prove myself. Each experience that I’ve had in the motorsports realm has been nothing short of incredible. I’ve been given great opportunities, and met so many amazing people; I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Luckily for whoever does finally give me the opportunity I’m looking for, I have four months of energy paired with a passion of motorsports and I’m ready to go to prove my value.

In the words of Katy Perry…

You don’t have to feelLike a waste of spaceYou’re originalCannot be replaced

If you only knewWhat the future holdsAfter a hurricaneComes a rainbow

Maybe the reason whyAll the doors are closedSo you could open one That leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning boltYour heart will glowAnd when it’s time you knowYou just gotta

Ignite the lightAnd let it shineJust own the nightLike the Fourth of July